5Systems Analysis and Design in a

Changing World, Fifth Edition

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Learning Objectives

Explain why identifying use cases is the key to defining functional requirements

Use three techniques for identifying use cases

Write brief, intermediate, and fully developed use case descriptions

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Learning Objectives (continued)

Explain how the concept of things in the problem domain also defines requirements

Identify and analyze data entities and domain classes needed in the system

Read, interpret, and create an entity-relationship diagram

Read, interpret, and create a domain model class diagram

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Overview

Document functional requirements by creating models

Models created during analysis phase activity – Define system requirements

Two concepts help identify functional requirements in the traditional approach and object-oriented approach

Use cases and the events that trigger them

Things in the users’ work domain

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User Goals, Events, and Use Cases Use Case -- An activity the system performs in

response to a user request

Techniques for identifying use cases

User goal technique

Each goal at the elementary business process (EBP) level is a use case

EBP – a task performed by one user, in one place in response to a business event, that adds measurable business value, and leaves system and data in consistent state

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5User Goals, Events, and Use Cases

(continued) CRUD analysis technique (create, read, update,

delete)

Event decomposition technique

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5Identifying Use Cases Based on User

Goals

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Use Case Based on CRUD Technique

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Event Decomposition Technique

Event – an occurrence at a specific time and place and which needs to be remembered

Business events trigger elementary business processes (EBPs)

EBPs are at correct level of analysis for use cases

Identify business events to decompose system into activities/use cases

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Types of Events

External

Outside system

Initiated by external agent or actor

Temporal

Occur as result of reaching a point in time

Based on system deadlines

State

Something inside system triggers processing need

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5Events Affecting a Charge Account Processing

System that Lead to Use Cases

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External Event Checklist

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Temporal Event Checklist

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Identifying Events

Can be difficult to determine

Often confused with conditions and responses

May be useful to trace a transaction’s life cycle

Certain events left to design phase

System controls to protect system integrity

Perfect technology assumption defers events

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5Sequence of Actions that Lead Up to Only One

Event Affecting the System

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5Sequence of “Transactions” for One Specific Customer Resulting in Many Events

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5Events Deferred Until the Design

Phase

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Events in the RMO case

Important external events involve customers

Customer checks item availability, customer places order, customer changes or cancels order

Other external events involve departments

Shipping fulfills order, marketing sends promotion to customer, merchandising updates catalog

Temporal events include periodic reports

Time to produce order summary reports, Time to produce fulfillment summary reports

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RMO External Events

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RMO Temporal Events

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Events and Use Cases Event Table – a catalog of use cases listed by event.

Contains detailed information

Trigger – a signal that indicates an event has occurred

Source – an external agent that initiates event and supplies data for the event

Response – an output produced by the system

Destination – an external agent that receives the response

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5Information about Each Event

in an Event Table

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5RMO Event Table

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Use Case Descriptions Use case description – a description of the processing

steps for a use case

Actor – a person or thing that uses the system. Actors have contact with the system

Scenario or Instance – a particular set of internal steps that represent a unique path of the use case

Three types of descriptions

Brief description

Intermediate description

Fully developed description

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Brief Description

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Intermediate Description

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Fully Developed Description

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“Things” in the Problem Domain

Define system requirements by understanding system information that needs to be stored

Store information about things in the problem domain that people deal with when they do their work

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Types of Things

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5Procedure for Developing an

Initial List of Things Step 1: Using the event table and information about each

use case, identify all nouns

Step 2: Using other information from existing systems, current procedures, and current reports or forms, add items or categories of information needed

Step 3: Refine list and record assumptions or issues to explore

Questions to include it, exclude it, or research it

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RMO Example “Things”

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Characteristics of Things

Relationship

Naturally occurring association among specific things

Occur in two directions

Number of associations is cardinality or multiplicity

Binary, unary, ternary, n-ary

Attribute

One specific piece of information about a thing

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5Relationships Naturally Occur

Between Things

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5Cardinality/Multiplicity of

Relationships

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Attributes and Values

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Data Entities

Things system needs to store data about in traditional IS approach

Modeled with entity-relationship diagram (ERD)

Requirements model used to create the database design model for relational database

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5The Entity-Relationship Diagram

(ERD)

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5Cardinality Symbols of Relationships

for ERD

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Expanded ERD with Attributes Shown

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5Customers, Orders, and Order Items

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ERD with Many-to-Many Relationship

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5Many-to-Many Relationship Converted to Associative Entity to Store Grade Attribute

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5RMO Customer Support System ERD

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The Domain Model Class Diagram

Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagram

Domain model class diagram

Models things in the users’ work domain

Used to define requirements for OO (very similar to entities in ERD)

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UML Class Symbol

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Simple Domain Model Class Diagram

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5Simple Domain Model Class Diagram

(continued) No methods shown in domain model

Domain classes are not software classes

Very similar to ERD UML and domain model can be used in place of ERD

in traditional approach

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Multiplicity of Associations

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5University Course Enrollment Domain

Model Class Diagram

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5Refined Model with Association Class

and Grade Attribute

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More Complex Class Concepts

Generalization/specialization hierarchies

General superclasses to specialized subclasses

Inheritance allows subclasses to share characteristics of their superclasses

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5A Generalization/Specialization

Class Hierarchy for Motor Vehicles

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5A Generalization/Specialization Class Hierarchy for RMO Orders

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Whole-Part Hierarchies Whole-part hierarchies – hierarchies that structure

classes by components

Aggregation – whole-part relationships between and object and its removable parts Parts can exist separately

Like car and its tires

Composition – whole-part relationships between and object and its non-removable parts. Parts cannot exist separately

Like Hand is composed of fingers and thumb

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5Whole-Part Aggregation

Relationships

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RMO Domain Model Class

Diagram

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5Where You Are Headed

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Summary

Analysis phase – defines system requirements

Models created to further learning process, reduce complexity, communicate with team members, and document requirements

Key early step in modeling is to identify and list

Events that require a use case in the system

Things users deal with in work environment

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Summary (continued)

Use cases (activities) are identified from user goals and business events that trigger elementary business processes

Business events are memorable, can be described, and occur at a specific time and place

External events, temporal events, and state events

Event table records event, trigger, source, use case, response, and destination

A catalog of information about each use case

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Summary (continued)

“Things” are what user deals with and system remembers, such as customer placing an order

Traditional approach uses entity-relationship diagrams (ERD) for data entities, attributes of data entities, and relationships between entities

Object-oriented approach uses UML class diagrams for classes, attributes, methods of class, and associations among classes

Domain model class diagram

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